More Evidence Of Quotas On Staten Island

With an overtime angle, to boot:

Two Staten Island cops are accused of writing motorists more than 40 bogus tickets while assigned to overtime duty, authorities said.

. . .

The accused officers submitted paperwork to their bosses to make it look like they were doing their jobs, but never gave the summonses to the unsuspecting motorists, sources said.

While The Mayor Is Busy Grandstanding On A National Stage, Here At Home He Shows How He Can Flex His Muscle

I don’t want to hector you and say “here’s a disturbing story that should bother anyone who cares about how government abuses its power” but here’s a disturbing story that should bother anyone who cares about how government abuses its power:

The raid, conducted by government agencies including the NYPD and the Buildings and Housing Preservation and Development departments, began about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, when an estimated 200 law enforcement officers in more than 50 vehicles arrived at the Iron Triangle, blocking several entrances and exits and stopping anyone from coming or going for more than six hours, [Willets Point Defense Committee president Marco] Neira said. [Councilwoman Julia] Ferreras said “dozens” of officers participated.

“I tried to drive up the street [into Willets Point] and the police said, ‘This is a secured area, you can’t come in.’ I said, ‘What do you mean? I live here,'” the Iron Triangle’s only resident, Joseph Ardizzone, recounted Thursday. “I was running up and down the streets telling everyone to close up since they were coming through to ticket everyone.”

. . .

Many workers and local landlords believe the raid was directly related to the fact that the city plans to build a multibillion-dollar development project at Willets Point. The city wants to relocate existing businesses and maybe even use eminent domain to clear the land in pursuit of its development goals, which area tenants and landlords say leaves them up against a wall.

“They were harassing us. I have no intention of selling or giving anything to Economic Development [Corporation],” Ardizonne said. “I think it’s wrong. I don’t think this is a democracy anymore, I think it’s a dictatorship.”

Location Scout: Iron Triangle.

Thinking Too Much Can Ruin A Good Time!

It’s not just the cops or even the Health Department — the Department of Sanitation knows how to raise money, too:

An elderly Manhattan woman living on Social Security was slapped with a $100 ticket — just for throwing away a newspaper in a city trash can.

Investigate A Smoking Gun Too Closely And Your Eyes Will Burn

And you’ll have soot all over your smug mug and probably resemble Wile E. Coyote like after one of those Acme bombs blows up in his face. And you’ll probably cry a little, too. Because nothing institutionalizes a policy like a memo:

The NYPD will launch a probe into memos at a Brooklyn stationhouse that appeared to set quotas for traffic summonses, Mayor Bloomberg said Monday.

(Don’t not take a look at the copies of the memos at the Daily News link, because they’re awesome.)

Earlier: We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Quotas — We Have Productivity Goals For That!; Abolish The Quota System! Now!; No Ticket Quotas, Eh?; The Urban Speed Trap; It’s Not So Much A Quota As It Is A Make-Work Plan For Its Enforcement Agents; The NYPD Tow Operation Division’s Version Of “Drugs On The Table”; “Productivity Goals” Return.

Get Your History Straight!

Wow, people really have no idea where they are, what they’re seeing or who they’re urinating next to:

“Get away from me, f—. I don’t like gay people,” Matthew Francis, 21, of Holgate Street in Willowbrook, is accused of telling his alleged 34-year-old victim, just before he and Christopher Orlando, 17, of the 400-block of Doane Avenue in Great Kills, attacked the man.

The confrontation happened at about 1:55 a.m. in the Christopher Street bar.

Prosecutors allege that the victim was at a urinal, when one of the men asked if he was “gay.” He laughed and responded that they were in the Stonewall, a gay bar.

It’s unclear if either Francis or Orlando knew the history of the Stonewall, or if they were in a gay bar.

Francis responded with the “get away from me,” remark, prosecutors allege, adding, “I don’t want you (urinating) next to me…. Give me a dollar. Give me a 20.”

Not just idiocy — romantic comedy levels of idiocy.